For decades, the concept of a ‘Greater Israel’ was treated by mainstream Western commentators as a fringe, theoretical conspiracy. However, the catastrophic events of the last few years have stripped away any such illusions as we witnessed is the systematic, bloody translation of a long-dormant geopolitical blueprint into active military policy.
Yet, as the smoke clears over a battered Middle East in mid-2026, the ultimate success of this expansionist drive has run aground. It did not falter due to the armed resistance of regional proxies, but rather because of an unexpected, quiet wall of deterrence put up by South Asian diplomacy.
Pakistan, through a masterclass in strategic restraint and astute mediation, has emerged as the principal hurdle in the way of Israel’s grand design. To understand the scale of Pakistan’s diplomatic achievement, one must trace the sheer momentum of the Israeli playbook over the past three years. For decades, Israel’s expansionist ambitions were held in check by a fragile regional equilibrium. That changed post-October 2023. The devastating, disproportionate campaign in Gaza was not merely a retributive strike against Hamas but the first concrete step in a larger campaign to permanently alter the demography and geography of the region.
Once Gaza was thoroughly subdued, the theatre of operations expanded exactly as the expansionist doctrine prescribed. Southern Lebanon was invaded and bombed under the banner of neutralising Hezbollah, pushing Israel’s northern de facto border deeper into sovereign Lebanese territory. The sudden collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in late 2024 created another opportunity. Israel launched deep incursions and relentless airstrikes against Syrian military installations.
With the ‘Axis of Resistance’ fractured, Israel systematically targeted senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders in June 2025. This paved the way for what was intended as the final chapter: the neutralisation of Iran and the reorganisation of the Persian Gulf. In February 2026, with active US military and diplomatic support, Israel launched a full-scale offensive against Iran. The objective was to provoke an Iranian counter-offensive against Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, forcing Saudi Arabia and its allies into an irreversible alliance with Washington and Tel Aviv.
This is where the expansionist machine hit an immovable object. The architects of the ‘Greater Israel’ project underestimated the strategic depth and diplomatic leverage of Islamabad.
Realising that a wider Gulf war would spell economic and security ruin for the entire Global South, Pakistan stepped into the fray with sophisticated, balanced and highly sincere diplomacy. Islamabad quickly recognised that the success of the Israeli trap hinged entirely on two variables: direct escalation between Washington and Tehran, and a knee-jerk military reaction from Riyadh.
Pakistan’s foreign policy apparatus immediately went into overdrive. Leveraging its historical defence ties with the Gulf and its complex but functional relationship with Tehran, Islamabad worked tirelessly to de-escalate the direct US-Iran kinetic exchange. Simultaneously, Pakistani emissaries engaged in intensive, high-level diplomacy with Saudi Arabia and other GCC capitals. The message from Islamabad was clear, urgent and fraternal: do not take the bait.
Pakistan strongly urged Riyadh to exercise maximum restraint, demonstrating through precise intelligence sharing that any retaliatory response to Iranian provocations on Gulf soil would play directly into Israel’s hands. By acting as a steadying hand and a reliable security guarantor, Pakistan gave the Gulf leadership the diplomatic breathing room to resist the immense Western pressure to join the war.
By keeping the GCC out of the conflict and cooling the tempers between Washington and Tehran, Pakistan effectively broke the circuit of Israel’s expansionist machine.
Ultimately, history will record that, while Israel successfully dismantled physical militias and state armies across the Levant, its imperial march towards a ‘Greater Israel’ was stopped not by missiles, but by the quiet power of Pakistani statecraft.
Through its brilliant, balanced diplomacy, Pakistan proved to be the ultimate Achilles’ heel of Israel’s expansionist agenda.
The writer is a freelance contributor and writes on issues concerning national and regional security. She can be reached at: [email protected]
